Summary of "The Stolen Piano" by Elena Nesterina

The story "The Stolen Piano" by children’s author Elena Nesterina was published in 2004. This light, humorous detective story, aimed at a teenage audience, tells the story of a humorous investigation into the theft of a musical instrument. The plot revolves around the disappearance of a poor family’s only valuable possession — a piano — which a schoolgirl tries to find with the help of her friends.

This work is the eighth installment in the well-known book series "The Fairest Mafia." This series also includes Elena Nesterina’s stories "Detective, Find the Thief!", "A Poodle Wanders Through Europe," "The Mafia Sets Up a Meeting," and "The Mafia Writes an Opera."

The disappearance of a family heirloom

The Redkin family’s festive morning on March 8th doesn’t begin with greetings. Their mother, Klavdiya, a factory worker, along with her daughter, Zoya, and young son, Tolik, have been selling mimosas outside the store since early morning. When they return home, they are greeted by the loud snoring of their drunken father, Vasily. Soon, the only valuable item in the apartment — a black Accord piano — is missing.

This instrument belonged personally to seventh-grader Zoya. It was a gift from her late Aunt Marusya, who prudently included a deed of gift with a seal. The deed protected the piano from the depredations of her plumber father, who regularly drank away household items. Tolik, on the other hand, is genuinely happy about the disappearance of the hated instrument, which frees him from his sister’s noisy music rehearsals.

Zoya runs to call her classmate, Arina Balovantseva. On the way, she runs into her neighbor, Antosha Mylchenko, nicknamed "Humanoid." He tries to talk to her about some holiday surprise, but the excited girl runs past.

Dramatic date

Meanwhile, another classmate, Veronika Kenik, is preparing for a romantic encounter with a senior named Artur. She decorates the table with candles, juice, and cake. Instead of the expected date, a sweaty Antosha Mylchenko bursts through the door. He recites his own poetry and tries to give Veronika a pair of striped silk pajamas.

The pajamas have a manufacturing defect — the seamstresses have sewn on pant legs instead of sleeves. Antosha, wanting to show off the gift, pulls the pajamas and nightcap on over his street clothes. Just then, Artur arrives with roses. The jealous senior mocks Anton’s ridiculous appearance, calls him names, and throws him out of the building in his slippers.

Veronica, offended by Arthur’s behavior, quarrels with him and throws a cake at the closing door. Worried about Anton, who is freezing, she decides to call Arina Balovantseva, known for her willingness to protect the weak.

Misunderstanding and the beginning of the search

Arina welcomes numerous relatives into her home, but retreats to her room to answer calls. First, Veronica cries incoherently, telling everyone about Anton being kicked out. Then, out of breath, Zoya runs into the house, reporting that her "beloved" is missing. Confusion ensues: Arina thinks Zoya is grieving over Mylchenko’s disappearance.

Once the misunderstanding is resolved, the girls join forces. Arina believes Anton may have witnessed the instrument theft. They go to Veronica’s to retrieve the boots and hat Anton left behind. They hesitate to call the police: Zoya is afraid the neighbors will complain about the Redkins’ frequent family squabbles.

The friends return to Zoya’s house and try to wake her sleeping father. Realizing the futility of this, they decide to go around to his local drinking buddies. Albertik, Volodka, and Seryozha deny drinking with Vasily that day. The rude neighbor, Roman, even throws the girls out, threatening them with a belt.

In the footsteps of a departed poet

A repentant Artur joins the search. He recalls that the exiled Anton shouted phrases about the cemetery, peace, and eternity from the entryway. Zoya confirms that in moments of melancholy, Anton does indeed retreat to the old cemetery to the grave with the sculpture of a stone angel.

The boys head into the grove beyond the highway. On the snowy paths of the cemetery, they discover the telltale marks of slippers and the deep imprints of someone else’s felt boots. The guard, with his iron teeth, explains that he actually encountered a freezing boy in striped pajamas. He mistook him for a poor orphan, took pity on him, and led him to the gate.

The guard adds that the strange boy mumbled about birds in the sky and headed toward the country road. Anton’s search reaches a dead end, and Arina suggests focusing on finding the musical instrument itself. Something so heavy is difficult to hide discreetly.

Solving the Plumbers’ Mystery

Returning to the Redkins’ apartment, the boys shouted in unison, "Company, rise!", causing Vasily to jump out of bed. The sleepy father insisted he hadn’t sold the piano. He recalled that his co-worker, Valentin, had stopped by before bed and asked permission to borrow the "instrument." Vasily lazily agreed, thinking he was referring to a plumber’s briefcase.

Arina guesses Valentin was referring specifically to the piano. The housing office workers decided to use it for a holiday concert at their workplace. Arina and Zoya rush to the local housing office building.

The Return of the False Dead

Meanwhile, Veronica and Arthur are keeping watch at the apartment. Suddenly, an ambulance arrives. The paramedics bring in a stretcher with a body covered with a white sheet. The terrified boys think something terrible has happened, as a striped cap with a pompom peeks out from under the sheet.

Suddenly, Anton jumps up from the stretcher, declaring himself alive. It turns out the boy, freezing in the street, had been picked up by paramedics. Taking advantage of the kindness of the doctor, the artistic teenager had persuaded the team to stage this prank so he could return to Veronica with style.

Anton recounts how he received the ill-fated pajamas. He’d been working unofficially for a week as a loader for some neighboring merchants, hoping to buy Zoya a beautiful ring. Instead of money, the owner gave him a defective silk set. Realizing Zoya had no time to listen to him on the street, the offended poet went to give the pajamas to Veronica.

Confrontation in the yard

Meanwhile, Arina finds a piano right outside the office’s basement. It turns out that plumbers Valentin, Foka, and Kocherga brought the instrument for a colleague who dreamed of performing Rachmaninoff. The heavy instrument couldn’t fit into the basement, so they staged an impromptu concert right under the windows. When the festivities died down, the angry wives took the musicians home, leaving the instrument outside.

A cunning local businessman noticed the abandoned piano. He called a truck and hired movers to secretly remove and sell it. Arina, alone, blocks their path by climbing onto the instrument’s lid. The boys and Zoya arrive and join her.

Zoya’s father, Vasily, shows up, sees a wad of cash in the businessman’s hands, and agrees to sell the instrument for next to nothing. Zoya tearfully throws herself into his arms, begging him not to do something stupid. The situation escalates when the movers begin roughly pushing the children aside.

Intervention of the class teacher

Arina’s call brings their homeroom teacher, physical education teacher Petr Bronislavovich, to the scene. He examines the deed of gift Zoya brought and firmly declares the transaction illegal. Under pressure from the teacher and the movers, Vasily is forced to return the wad of cash to the buyer.

Petr Bronislavovich offers the Redkins a fair deal. His wife, Galina, has long dreamed of learning to play, and used instruments are in short supply in stores. The teacher offers to buy the piano for a fair consignment store price, promising that Zoya can visit them anytime and play as much as she wants.

The delighted Redkins agree. The instrument is loaded into the van. On the way, Zoya begins to play and sing loudly. At that moment, everyone accompanying her realizes with horror that the girl has absolutely no musical ear and understands why her family was so eager to get rid of the instrument.

Musical confinement

Outside the teacher’s house, the piano is turned on its side to fit into the cramped elevator car. Zoya enters with the instrument, wanting to be alone with it before parting ways. Halfway up, the elevator suddenly gets stuck between floors.

Zoya isn’t upset at all. She takes the breakdown as a sign that the instrument doesn’t want to part with her. The entryway fills with cacophonous sounds — the girl enthusiastically plays the overturned piano and sings loudly, ignoring the shouts of her angry father.

Arina calls emergency services, and soon the elevator is safely reopened. The instrument is brought into the new owner’s apartment, where a festive treat awaits all those involved in the rescue operation. Despite the happy ending, the boys have a hunch that the adventures won’t end there.